Celebration To Feature Work By Nn Native

Inside the Arts

May 17, 1992|By DAVID NICHOLSON Daily Press

This week's Sesquicentennial celebration at Mary Baldwin College will include a special work composed by Frances Thompson McKay.

McKay, who was born in Newport News and graduated from Warwick High School, has written a cantata based on the Biblical story of Ruth and Naomi. The 75-minute work, scored for three soloists, women's chorus and small orchestra, was commissioned by the Staunton college and will be performed there Thursday.

"It's something I have wanted to do for some time," said McKay, who began writing it three years ago.

McKay graduated from Mary Baldwin in 1969 and went on to study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, the famous music composition teacher. After returning to the United States, she earned a master's degree at University of Virginia and a doctorate from Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore.

McKay lives in Washington with her husband, lawyer James McKay, and 14-year-old twins, Katie and Daniel. She heads the music theory department at Levine School of Music and teaches at Georgetown University.

From 1985-89, she co-produced a contemporary music series at St. Mark's Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill. Each season, the series focused on a theme that included nuclear armament, world hunger, destruction of the Chesapeake Bay and apartheid.

The cantata, which deals with themes of hunger and self-determination of women, falls in this category.

SUCCESSFUL SEASON. Peninsula Community Theatre's final production of the season, "California Suite," closed last weekend. But the good news from theater president Pat Stern is that the theater's revival year has been a success.

"We sold close to 2,000 tickets this season, which I'm very happy about," said Stern.

The company began more than 30 years ago, but went dark in January 1988. Its board vowed to continue and launched a full season of three shows last fall at Hampton Roads Academy.

For 1992-93, the company will expand to four shows, adding a dose of drama to its usual fare of comedies and musicals.

The company will bracket next season with two musicals, "Guys and Dolls" in October and Anthony Newley's "Stop the World, I Want To top Get Off" in May 1993. Two poetic works, "Spoon River Anthology" by Edgar Lee Masters and "Under Milk Wood" by Dylan Thomas, will share the December slot. "Dark of the Moon," a bewitching folk tale set in the Smokey Mountains, will be presented in March 1993.

Performances will continue in the academy auditorium in Newport News. Call 595-5728 for subscription information.

ONLY A FEW LEFT. Two programs remain on the Virginia Symphony's "Mozart and More" series at Hampton Roads Academy.

The May 29 evening is all-Mozart, featuring the overture to "The Impresario," the Bassoon Concerto, and Symphonies No. 24 & 38. Peter Jaffe, director of orchestral activities at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, will conduct; Kim David Peoria, the symphony's bassoonist, will be soloist.

On June 12, the orchestra will perform the overture to Mozart's "La Clemenza di Tito;" Brahms' choral poem, "Nanie;" and Haydn's "Lord Nelson Mass." The players will be joined by the symphony chorus, all under the direction of Don McCullough.

ROLE REDUX. Marilyn Mims reprises the title role in Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" this week at Kentucky Opera. The soprano performed the role with Virginia Opera during the 1986-87 season.